Stress

In most cases, the greater we develop ourselves personally, the low our long-term stress levels. In the end, discovering our life purpose helps steer clear of the stress of pointlessness. Developing better communication skills avoids many relationship problems. Improving personal time management helps avoid feeling overcommitted in day-to-day work. On the top, stress management and personal development appear to fit together perfectly.

There are occasions, however, when personal development itself could possibly get just a little unmanageable - when it starts contributing to your stress levels, instead of helping manage it. When that happens, you can begin to locate yourself showing a lot of signs of stress (for additional info on these, ask for a copy in our free stress audit questionnaire), rather than less.

So should we totally avoid personal development altogether if we want to keep a handle on stress? Certainly not, but we might may need to look at what development we're doing and just how it's affecting our stress levels.

Just how CAN PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT INCREASE STRESS?

All personal development involves change on some level, and change is really a major supply of stress for most people. Which means that, even if you're trying to improve something that will eventually lower your stress level (e.g. personal time management or communication skills), it can sometimes act as a short-term.

There are four main reasons for personal development work causing, instead of curing stress:

- Too Many Areas

- Lack of Balance

- Unrealistic Expectations

- Going it Alone

TOO MANY AREAS

Personal development can be addictive - who wouldn't want to be the best person they can in every part of their lives? With the amount of areas we might work with, we sometimes make an effort to improve in multiple areas simultaneously. For some individuals, this is simply not a concern. For some individuals, however, the existing adage "chase two rabbits, catch neither" applies.

If you're taking care of improving a couple of aspects of your daily life along with your stress levels rise, consider thinking about, "Which area is most critical today?", or, "Which area would improving maximize difference personally today?" then focussing on that area. The rest it's still there looking forward to you if you are carried out with reduce costs!

Not enough OVERALL BALANCE

Personal development takes commitment and willingness to do something. Sometimes, however, we exaggerate the value of a certain improvement to the level that little else matters, as well as other areas get neglected. As an example, in order to develop spiritually, you should devote some time in the market to try this. In the event you start ignoring friends or work demands so that you can meditate to all day daily, it could start causing stress.

Remember that you are the only 1 who is able to say what are the right balance of "personal development time". Some individuals might choose to take weeks, months, or years right out of the world for self-improvement. Most folks, however, desire to integrate our development with your current lifestyles. If that's so to suit your needs, examine the length of time you may spend on personal development, and consider lowering if appropriate.

UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS

It could be difficult to develop a mental image of the way you want to be, then acknowledge how long we have been as a result now without blaming or getting angry with ourselves. In the identical vein, if we have that clear image, you can feel that we'll suddenly be capable of act relative to it. Only if it were that simple!

In fact, that habits make time to change, additional skills take practice to implement, and little that happens overnight can last. If you're frustrated because you are not seeing progress (or otherwise not seeing it fast enough), remember self-improvement might be a like developing a house. Part one with the work always happens beneath ground level - digging then laying foundations. On the top, it could seem nothing at all was happening. Yet if those foundations aren't laid properly, your house itself will collapse. Personal development can be quite a lot that way.

If you are annoyed by an apparent insufficient progress, have a step back and get yourself how realistic your expectations are. Talk to others who've built the same change - just how long did it take them? What stages did they go through? While everyone's journey is unique, you might find that hearing from others helps put things into perspective to suit your needs.

Doing the work On your own

Obviously, personal development is personal - no-one can perform it to suit your needs. But you don't have to cope with it alone. There's enough support available - as communities, mailing lists, forums, and trained experts - that no-one should feel alone. Type "personal development" or "self improvement" to your internet search engine of preference and find out what pops up. Alternatively, consider consulting a stress management coach.

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